…
No one knew how much time had passed.
At the bottom of the ocean, where his body had been dumped, Leon Stark slowly regained consciousness.
Most of his wounds had already healed. Only a few gruesome bullet craters on his face remained, raw flesh writhing faintly as they regenerated.
"What the hell—?!"
"Where the hell did that hit send me?!"
Before him stretched the pitch-black depths of the ocean, separated from his body by a faint, translucent blue energy membrane.
At the same time, a torrent of memories from his previous life flooded into his mind.
[Host consciousness detected. Beginner Protection will deactivate in three seconds.]
[Three. Two. One.]
"What?!"
The moment the countdown ended—
The blue membrane vanished.
The crushing pressure of the deep sea slammed into Leon from every direction.
"Gonna die—gonna die—gonna die—!"
Acting purely on instinct, Leon kicked upward with all his strength.
Snap!
The iron chain binding him to the stone—thick as two fingers—snapped effortlessly, as if it were nothing more than thread.
He barely felt resistance.
Gasping violently, Leon finally broke through the surface and dragged himself ashore, collapsing onto the sand in a starfish sprawl.
He lay there for a long while, breathing hard, before finally gathering the clarity to piece together what had happened.
The Truth
In his previous life, he had been a international student.
One night in New York, while watching the finale of The Boys Season 3 on his phone—furious at Soldier Boy's betrayal—he laughed in disbelief, stepped into the street without looking—
And was promptly hit by a fully insured semi-truck.
Next thing he knew, he was reborn into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Leon Stark, fraternal twin brother of Tony Stark.
Later, through a series of unfortunate events, he was hit by another semi-truck.
That second collision fulfilled the unlock condition for his golden finger:
The Daily Sign-In System.
As the name implied, it granted random rewards for daily check-ins.
Anything.
From cosmic-tier entities to quantum dust.
Infinite possibilities—assuming you were lucky.
And Leon, apparently, was.
His starter pack had granted him the Soldier Boy Template.
In a world resembling the MCU, Soldier Boy—arguably the top-tier powerhouse of The Boys universe—was nothing to scoff at.
At minimum, he far surpassed the original inspiration for the character: Captain America.
Leon scooped up a handful of sand and flicked it toward the ocean.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The grains hit the water like shotgun pellets.
And that wasn't even close to full strength.
After that, he conducted further tests—crushing boulders against his chest, uprooting trees with ease.
Conclusion:
He was absurdly strong.
In The Boys, Soldier Boy could tank machine-gun fire, shrug off high-energy blasts, and withstand extreme toxins. At peak condition, he could even overpower Homelander.
Not to mention the chest beam—capable of leveling a skyscraper and stripping others of their superpowers.
Leon wasn't about to test that casually.
In short—
He was now a humanoid walking nuclear reactor.
Below god-tier beings, he could one-shot practically anyone.
(And by "gods," he meant Asgardians like Thor—not cosmic abstracts like Eternity.)
The chest beam required charging, but it was still a powerful trump card.
That said, Leon wasn't delusional.
This world might be the MCU, not the comics—but there were still plenty stronger than him.
For example:
The Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One.
If she decided he was a problem, he'd be erased instantly.
Still, with the System backing him, Leon wasn't too worried.
Early game: farm safely.
Late game: defend Earth.
[Would you like to perform today's sign-in?]
"System. Show me your limits."
[Ding! Sign-in successful. Reward obtained: Super Self-Regeneration.]
[Super Self-Regeneration: Regardless of injury severity, the host will regenerate in an extremely short time. As long as a single cell remains alive, full restoration is possible (longer recovery time in that case).]
[Description: I hear the echo of endless life. Death is denied.]
Leon's grin nearly split his face.
"Opening hand—royal flush."
This ability practically encouraged recklessness.
In an instant—
The bullet craters on his face vanished completely, as if they had never existed.
[First sign-in complete. Status panel unlocked.]
A translucent blue interface appeared in Leon's field of vision.
Host: Leon Stark
Abilities:
Soldier Boy Template
Super Self-Regeneration
Items:
Soldier Boy Suit Set
[Note: All system items are stored in system space and may be retrieved or recalled within a 100-meter radius.]
"Limited range, but convenient enough."
Leon glanced down at the shredded remains of his clothes.
Unacceptable.
He immediately summoned the Soldier Boy combat suit from system storage.
The tactical armor materialized over him seamlessly.
The heavy tungsten-alloy shield felt weightless in his grip.
The difference in raw strength was absolute.
Leon lifted the shield, chest swelling with exhilaration.
"I am f■■king Soldier Boy!"
As the rush of newfound power faded, so did his grin.
Tony.
Right now, his brother was likely imprisoned somewhere in Afghanistan by the Ten Rings, forced to build weapons in a cave.
Leon's eyes hardened.
"Obadiah Stane… you son of a—"
With memories of the original timeline restored, Leon knew exactly who had arranged both the terrorist ambush and the truck assassination.
Obadiah wanted Stark Industries for himself.
Tony and Leon were obstacles.
And obstacles had to be removed.
Leon began running.
At full speed, he outpaced most civilian vehicles. Since the crash site wasn't far from home, he reached the Malibu mansion in minutes.
Pepper wasn't there.
She was likely out desperately working contacts to locate Tony.
Leon stood in the empty living space, shield in hand.
The game had changed.